Outboard protection tray

Aurelia · Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:18 pm Post subject: Outboard protection tray

Our engines tip completely out of the water but if yours don't, this is pretty smart:

http://themarineinstallersrant.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-didnt-i-think-of-that-outboard.html#more

hambone · Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 2:08 pm Post subject:

There's always a better mouse trap if you just think about it. This is a good one. Thumbs Up

H

Sea Wolf · Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 5:23 pm Post subject:

It says that some water will remain in the tray after you insert it under the tilted up motor(s), but that this will evaporate, leaving the skeg(s) dry.

In fresh water, this would be OK, but in salt water, the salt left coating the skeg(s) + the humid environment would be pretty much just like being in the water, corrosion wise, except for the direct grounding link. Would it be better or worse than being in the salt water? Would the anodes function? Are zincs necessary on spaceships? (Ignore this last one!)

In that case, I'd opt to flush the walt water off with fresh, then sponge any remaining water out of the tray.

What about rain and/or wave action/splashing?

Would it be easier to put a medium sized rigid plastic trash can on each skeg, tilt them back down, then either leave them dry or fill them with freshwater after securing them to each motor?

It is obvious that there is a problem with a skeg that won't tilt up out of the water, but the solution may be difficult and evasive! Laughing

I've jostled with this one (problem) before, but being in fresh water, didn't have to deal with the salt issue.

Joe. Teeth

Aurelia · Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 5:44 pm Post subject:

I was thinking along the same lines as you. Notice in the pic there is a stream of water (likely fresh) going down into the tray. If you rinsed out the salt and flushed it with fresh, it would work well enough as long as your marina is protected enough to keep water from re-entering the tray for the most part. Rain would also refill but dilute any salt so long as the tray has enough bouyancy to keep it from sinking when filled to the self bailing level.

Trash cans could work perhaps but might attract too much attention. I think if the tray was deeper, very bouyant, and maybe even optionally fitted with a small solar bilge pump, it might pay for itself for someone. I would still have a diver clean the hull and adding some regular scheduled scrub time to an outboard would be a cheap task performed at the same time. Still a neat idea....

thataway · Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 6:15 pm Post subject:

We just had several inches of rain this afternoon--and it would have filled up one of those trays. I have seen bags made of various plastics and used to cover the lower units. These were then filled with fresh water and sometimes chlorine tablets.... The 140 Suzuki on my Caracal has about 2" in the water. I just use one of the anti fouling paints and 3 years later--still clean. We are in fresh water in the bayou in back of our house--so not much marine growth.

Actually the zinc question is good, since with the small amount of my motor in the water, the lower part of the bracket is also in the water--and that lower part of the bracket does have "zincs" on it.